Single-piece self-opening container construction

ABSTRACT

A self-opening container constructed from a single-piece flat blank. A flower-petallike, self-opening end is produced by folding along cutouts and scoring lines on a flat blank. The self-opening end opens upon sliding an inner section longitudinally within an outer section, both produced by folding a unitary flat blank along score lines.

Uni td Stat e s Patent [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,540,066 l/ 1951 Williamson 2,843,308 7/ 1958 Paige 3,329,346 7/1967 Keith3,371,844 3/1968 Perrella 3,416,718 I 2/1-968 Nakayama FOREIGN PATENTS962,448 7/1964 Great Britain Primary Examiner-Joseph R. LeclairAssistant Examiner-Steven E.' Lipman Attorney-Julian Caplan folding aunitary flat blank along score lines.

[72] Inventor Kenzo Kato Kamakura-shi, Japan 21 1 Appl. No 769,977 [22]Filed Oct. 23, 1968 [45] Patented Jan. 19, 1971 [73] Assignee Philip J.Hewitt Atherton, Calif.

In part interest [54] SINGLE-PIECE SELF-OPENING CONTAINER CONSTRUCTION 2Claims, 5 Drawing Figs,

[52] US. Cl 229/37, 229/8, 229/43 [51] Int. CL. 865d 5/02, 865d 43/ l 4[50] Field of Search 229/37, 37R, 43, 44, 8

PATENIEDJANIEIQYI g 35561385 sum 1 0F 2 INVENTOR; I KENZO K470 ATTORNE Yoppositely'slidl over; i

3 FIG. 4is a pers in'a half-open position.

SINGLE-PIECE ELF-OPENING CONTAINER I consrrwc'rron This 'inventionrelates to anew andimproved single-piece container construction. 1 I

Aprimaryobjectand advantage of theiinventionis the constru'ction fromaunitary flat blank of a'self-opening container with a slidable innersection contained wh within an outer section. v f v A further object'ofthe presentinv'ention is the provision of a self-opening petallikecontainer end which'automati'cally expands to expose the contentswhen'aslidable inner'section is other advantagesof he e-am inventionwill becomeapparent upon reading the following specification-andreferring tothe accompanying drawings in which similar' characters' ofreference represent corresponding parts in each of the several 1 views.

ln'the' drawings;

- touts 79, 81 and 83, each of which form a quadrilateral shape 2manner, flap 63 is divided from'section 27 by fold line 65,which'extends across the width of blank as best shownQin FIG. 1. Foldline 67 separates end-flap 57from tuck-in flap -59; End-flap'sections-57and o-l arc'defined by slit 69, which extends from the end of flap 61 toscore line '65 as an exten- 'sio'noffoldline39. Y

v That part of blank ll which form's-the selflopening end of thecontainer when fully assembled. comprises four sections generallydesignated 71, 73, 75 and 77. Separating end section 71 from 73,73 from75, and 75 from 77- areQrespectively. cu-

as shown; Quadrilateral cutouts 79, 81 and 83 are each symmetrical aboutajlineforming'acontinuation of respectively, score lines-31-39; and33'41;'and '35-43. The outwardly facing edge ofsection 71 designatedpan'el 85,15 indented in a like manner aslone side of thequadrilaterals'79, 81 and 83.

The outwardly facing edge 87 of section 77 is a straight line anda-continuation of the outer edges of panels 19, 27 and 63.

Extending laterally across blank 11 and connecting the common obtuseangles of quadrilateral cutouts 79, 81 and 83, is fold line89.-Extending laterally across blank ll is'foldline 91 which'delirl'eates'the demarcation between. panels 13. and 71;

F1611 is a plan view ofaflat for construction of a self openingcontainer according to thepresent-invention. .FlG. is'a" perspectiveview of thelbl'ank partially fold'ed FlG. 3 is a perspectiv e view ofaicor n'pletely constructed containerinafully closed position.-

' ctive'view of a'fully constructed container FIG. 5 is a perspectiveview and expanded'position;

' The container whichis thesubject of the present'invention isconstructed from a unitary flat blank ll'which isfolded upon ofa'container in its fully opened 15 and 73;'1'7and 75; and '19zand77.Similarly, extending laterally across blank-ll is fold line 93, whichdelineates the de- .marcation between panels'2l and7l; 23 and 73; 25andy75;

and 27 and 77; Extending laterally across blank 11 is foldline 95 whichis parallel to and immediate between. fold lines 89 and '93. as shown;Extending diagonally across each of panels 71, 73, 75 'andi77 are foldlines 97 and 99. To simplify descrip- 1 tion, the position of fold lines97. and 99 will be described only I with reference to panel71, it beingunderstood that they are identically placed in panels 73, 75 and 77.Fold line 99 extends diagonally across panel 71' from the intersectionof the itself to form a fully constructed and selfopening container asshown'in FIGS." Blank ll is"'preferably constructed of relatively thincardboard ior some other similar inexpensive material. ltis understoodthat as this. container may'function as both a container 'and as a.merchandising medium' to promote the sale offgoods, suitable advertisingrnaterial and informative mattermay printed or otherwise presented onthe exposedsurfaces of the container. Coloring various sections .indifferent shades enhancesthe expanding flower petal concept whichisone'of the attractive features'of the invention.

Constituting the largest flat portions of blank ll are longitudinalpanels 13, 15, 17 and 19, which are adjacent one another, andlongitudinal outer panels 21, 23, 25 and 27,

which are adjacent one another at the opposite end of blank ll,

as shown in FIG. 1 Defining panels 13 to 1.9 are longitudinallyextending fold-lines 29, 31, 33 and 35; which are formed in "blank 11 tofacilitate folding along saidfold-lines. Said fold lines extendlongitudinally the full length of blank ll and also delineate innerpanels 21 to 27, in which portion saidfold lines "are identified as37,39, 4 1 and 43; Panels13, '15, 17 and 19,

upon complete construction, will form the sides of. an outer I section,generally designated 45. Correspondingly, panels 21.

,23, 25 and 27, uponcompletion ofconstruction, will form the sides of aninnerseetion, generally designated as 47. The interrelationship of outersection 45 and inner section 47 will become apparent in referring to thefollowing specification.

' Adjacent panel 13 and separated therefrom by fold line 29, I is glueflap 49. Similarly, adjacent a panel 21 and separated therefrom byfoldli'ne 37 is glue flap 51.- Cut intothe end of panel 13 is arc-shapedcutout 53, likewisearc-shaped cutout 55 is cut into the lower end ofpanel 17.

Forming the-bottom end. of inner section 47 are end-flaps 57, 59, 61and63. End flap 57 and end flap 61 are separated from sections 21 and23, respectively, by 'foldline 65. In alike edge of flap 49', fold line29 andfold line'91 thence to the opposite edge of panel 71 at cutout 79to intersect with fold line 95. Similarly, fold line 97 extendsdiagonally from theintersection offold line at edge 71 to the ap'exofcutout 79iat the intersection of fold line 31, and fold line91', Foldlines 99, 97- and 89 meet at a common intersection points 101' on thesurface of end area 71. For purposes of identification, the variousareas'of end panel 71 are identified as follows: Between fold line 95and 93, area 103 the triangle formed by fold lines 95,97 and 99' is area91', the corresponding triangle 107 is formed'by fold lines 91,99 and97;-the smaller triangles 109 and lll are formed respectively by edge 85and fold lines'99 and 89, and by fold lines 89,97 and edge 85;corresponding small triangles; 1'13 and are formed, respectively, byfold lines 97 ,89 arid cutout 79, and fold lines 89, 99'and cutout 79.

For purposes of simplicity in description, it is understood that onlyend opening surface 71 is completely identified as to the varioussurfaces formed by fold lines and cutouts. it being understood thatidentical surface areas are formed respectively in panels 73,75 and 77,in which cases, triangular panes panels 103,105,107,109,111,113 and 115are designated by the addition of the letters a, b and 0, respectively.This is with the exception of area 77, in which straight line edge87forms the' outer edge thereof.

Proceeding now to a description of the method of folding andconstructing a completed container: Preliminarily, an,

1 75 in FIG. 1, each fold line 89 is folded'103, 105, 107', 109,

111, 113 upwardly and each fold line 97 and 99 is folded downwardly,points 101 becoming apices and the backs of trioverlap section 47; lnthe intermediate construction stage angles 109, 11 1, 1 13 and 115 arein contact. Referring to FIG. 2, it is seen that portions designatedgenerally as outersection 45 are folded upwards away from the flatsurface of blankll to shown'in FIG. 2, outer panels45 are approximatelyparallel to and a slight distance above, inner panels 47. At this stageof construction it is seen that panel'13-is immediately above face ofpanel 27 with a suitable adhesive material, the method of which is wellknown in the art, to form inner section 47, In a similar manner, flap 49is attached to the inner surface of panel l9 with adhesive material toform outer box section 45. The bottom of inner box structure 47 is'closed by folding flaps (SI and 63 upon each other and by closing flap57 thereupon, inserting flap 59 immediately adjacent panel 25. as iswell known in the art to form a box closure without the need foradhesives.

With inner section 47 pulled downwards to its full extent within outersection 45, a closed box structure is presented as shown in FIG. 3. Theupper end of outer section 45 is closed by the four triangle-shapedpanels l07a-c closing upon and adjacent to one another. The method inwhich outer section 45 automatically opens and closes upon itself in aflower petallike manner is now described. It is apparent that thefolding process has produced two box sections slidable about oneanother. That is, outer section 45 is slidable longitudinally aboutinner section 47 as shown, with fold lines 91, 95 and 93 functioning ashinges. As inner section is manually pushed partially upwardly withinouter section 45, the petallike shaped end panels 71, 73, 75 and 77expand upwardly and outwardly until an intermediate position shown inFIG. 4 is produced. At this stage, triangular-shaped panels l05a-c,become parallel to bottom 51 of inner section 47 and are at right anglesto inner box wall surfaces 21, 23, and 27. As inner section 47 isfurther manually pushed upward (sliding within outer section 45) theopening assembly 71, 73, 75 and 77 open fully outwards as shown in FIG.5. In the fully open position of FIG. 5. surfaces l03a-c are fullyexposed and are parallel to bottom 51 and therefore at right angles toside surfaces I3, l5, l7 and 19 of outer box section 45. In thisposition inner section 47 is substantially entirely contained withinouter section 45. Thumb and finger cutouts 53 and 55 are used to retractsection 47.

At this point, with the container fully open, the interior of innersection 47 is fully exposed and the contents thereof are available foreasy access. At this point the user may put in or take out whatevergoods are contained within inner section 47, as delineated by innerpanels 21, 23, 25 and 27. Thereafter, the process may be reversed byinserting a thumb and forefinger in cutouts 53 and 55 on inner panels 21and 25 and pulling downwardly, which reverses the process, closing thebox until the fully closed position shown in FIG. 3 is obtained.

The result is a unitary container construction which is easily andinexpensively manufactured and when folded in upon itself produces asliding self-opening container which quickly and easily exposes thecontents and upon closing produces a fully closed protective containerfor any manner of goods. By printing the exposed panels in differentcolors, the folding and unfolding steps exposes different colors atdifferent times and produces a very pleasing effect. A containerconstructed according to the present invention may be made not only inthe square cross-sectional area herein described, but may be made with across-sectional area octagonal, hexagonal, etc. with only slightmodifications of the example herein described, as will readily occur toone skilled in this art.

It is understood that this invention has been described with referenceto the example for purposes of clarity of understanding and that certainchanges may be practiced within the scope of this invention and of theappended claims.

Iclaim:

l. A flat blank for a self-opening container comprising:

a plurality of first panels foldable about each other to form an outersection;

a plurality of second panels foldable about each other to form an innersection contained within and slidable within said outer section:

a plurality of closure panels intermediate said first panels and saidsecond panels, said closure panels forming a closed end for the commonopening of said inner and outer sections;

a said plurality of first panels-comprising a first set of fourrectangular outer wall panels;

said plurality of second panels comprising a second set of fourrectangular inner wall panels at the opposite end of said blank fromsaid first set;

said plurality of closure panels comprising a set of four foldablepanels, each of said last-named panels having each end common to one endof a wall panel of said first and second set of wall panels, saidfoldable panels separated from each other by a quadrilateral opening insaid blank;

each of said four foldable closure panels comprising a first closurepanel with a first end common to one end of said first panels;

a second closure panel formed of a plurality of triangularshaped panelsdelineated by fold lines, said first closure panel and said secondclosure panel having a common edge delineated by a fold line; and

in which said plurality of triangular-shaped panels further comprises:

a first triangular section with its base common to said common edgebetween said first and second closure panels;

a second triangular panel with its apex common to the apex of said firsttriangular panel and having its base parallel to the base ofsaid firsttriangular panel;

third and fourth triangular panels adjacent first edges of said firstand second triangular panels; and

fifth and sixth triangular panels adjacent second edges of said firstand second triangular sections, opposite said first edges.

2. A self-opening container comprising:

an inner section;

an outer section, said inner section longitudinally slidable within saidouter section,

end closure means common to said inner and outer sections, said endclosure means opening upon the full insertion of said inner sectionwithin said outer section and closing upon the partial removal of saidinner section from said outer section;

a plurality of foldable portions adjacent the walls of said inner andouter sections, said foldable portions folding in to cover the openingof said sections when said inner section is partially removed from saidouter section;

a first panel adjacent a wall of said inner section, said first panelbeing at substantially a right angle to said wall when said closuremeans are fully open, and parallel to said wall when said means arefully closed;

a second panel adjacent a wall of said outer section, said second panelbeing at substantially a right angle to said outer wall when saidclosure means are fully closed and forming a portion of the closure ofsaid opening; and

closure connection means connecting said first panel with said secondpanel whereby said closure means opens upon full insertion of said innersection within said outer section.

1. A flat blank for a self-opening container comprising: a plurality offirst panels foldable about each other to form an outer section; aplurality of second panels foldable about each other to form an innersection contained within and slidable within said outer section; aplurality of closure panels intermediate said first panels and saidsecond panels, said closure panels forming a closed end for the commonopening of said inner and outer sections; a said plurality of firstpanels comprising a first set of four rectangular outer wall panels;said plurality of second panels comprising a second set of fourrectangular inner wall panels at the opposite end of said blank fromsaid first set; said plurality of closure panels comprising a set offour foldable panels, each of said last-named panels having each endcommon to one end of a wall panel of said first and second set of wallpanels, said foldable panels separated from each other by aquadrilateral opening in said blank; each of said four foldable closurepanels comprising a first closure panel with a first end common to oneend of said first panels; a second closure panel formed of a pluralityof triangular-shaped panels delineated by fold lines, said first closurepanel and said second closure panel having a common edge delineated by afold line; and in which said plurality of triangular-shaped panelsfurther comprises: a first triangular section with its base common tosaid common edge between said first and second closure panels; a secondtriangular panel with its apex common to the apex of said firsttriangular panel and having its base parallel to the base of said firsttriangular panel; third and fourth triangular panels adjacent firstedges of said first and second triangular panels; and fifth and sixthtriangular panels adjacent second edges of said first and secondtriangular sections, opposite said first edges.
 2. A self-openingcontainer comprising: an inner section; an outer section, said innersection longitudinally slidable within said outer section, end closuremeans common to said inner and outer sections, said end closure meansopening upon the full insertion of said inner section within said outersection and closing upon the partial removal of said inner section fromsaid outer section; a plurality of foldable portions adjacent the wallsof said inner and outer sections, said foldable portions folding in tocover the opening of said sections when said inner section is partiallyremoved from said outer section; a first panel adjacent a wall of saidinner section, said first panel being at substantially a right angle tosaid wall when said closure means are fully open, and parallel to saidwall when said means are fully closed; a second panel adjacent a wall ofsaid outer section, said second panel being at substantially a rightangle to said outer wall when said closure means are fully closed andforming a portion of the closure of said opening; and closure connectionmeans connecting said first panel with said second panel whereby saidclosure means opens upon full insertion of said inner section withinsaid outer section.